The term "blackout curtain" refers to curtain products which are substantially impermeable to light. Thus, when a blackout curtain is hung as a window dressing, it will block substantially all external light from entering the room through the window to which the blackout curtain is applied. Blackout curtains are suitable for domestic use, and are particularly well suited for institutional use in hospitals, prisons, etc., as well as for use in commercial establishments such as hotels, motels, movie theaters, etc., where the option of excluding light from a room when desired is important. For domestic use, as well as for use in the commercial and institutional establishments mentioned, it is also desirable from a safety standpoint that the fabric from which the blackout curtain is manufactured be flame retardant.
Fiberglass fabrics are inherently flame retardant. However, prior art uses of fiberglass in the manufacture of blackout curtains have included the application of a thick flammable foam layer of a polyurethane polymer to a woven fiberglass substrate. As a result, any advantage which might have been obtained through the use of the flame retardant fiberglass substrate has been largely negated by the flammable polyurethane surface layer applied to the fiberglass substrate.
It is an object of this invention to provide a foam-coated fiberglass fabric suitable for use as a blackout curtain which is substantially light impermeable and flame retardant, while at the same time possessing the drapability and suppleness characteristic of textiles used to manufacture curtain products.